Prerequisites for U.S. Dental and Medical Schools

[Mila]

This is one of my firsts posts here, ive been getting some great info from this site, so thank you ahead of time everyone!

 

Just a question (may have been posted here before but I did a search on the site and got nothing) -

Do all US Dental and Medical schools require physics? Im only in my first year of my undergrad so i was wondering, should i take physics just to keep my options open? On the other hand its not one of my strong points so I could do bad and risk the option of ruining my CGPA. Are there any US schools that dont need it (both dental and med).

 

Side note: Do all US schools require BOTH Orgo chem and General chem?

 

Too many things to consider when going international for med. especially in the US:confused:

 

Thanks!

[ChicoMaki]

I believe almost all schools require 1 year of physics with lab, 1 year of general chem with lab and 1 year of organic chemistry (with lab).

[smm99]

Mila, check out the AMCAS website, if you haven't already. http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/start.htm

They have a page that lists all the US medical schools that participate in AMCAS, and links to their admissions websites. I would suggest checking those websites directly for admissions requirements. Yeah, it might take some time to check more than a school or two, but then at least you've found the info right from the source.

 

To answer your question, yeah, I'd take physics if I were you. Not only for med school requirements, but also for the MCAT. I was TERRIFIED to take university-level physics, because I didn't take it in high school, but it turned out OK in the end. I'm glad I did, because it made studying for that section of the MCAT easier than if I'd had to learn it all from scratch!